Newest Catalog Items

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Radioactivity from Madame Curie to Fukushima (ONE of ONE)

By MariaAugust 22, 2017Newest Catalog Items

Includes Dick Gregory after Three Mile Island
This is a small tribute to Dick Gregory, who also needs to be remembered for his antinuclear work, embedded in a program about the phenomenon of radiation and ways to monitor it.
Opening with a clip from the song Radioactivity by Kraftwerk, leading into a sketch of the life and death of Madame Curie. She discovered radiation but was unable to understand its danger and died from radiation poisoning.
Next the comedian Dick Gregory who states that radiation is worse than hunger and war: “Because I can feel hunger. I can see war. .. I cannot see radiation… I look around one day and I am dead.”
On to the synopsis of 36 years in the [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Ira Helfand and Alan Robock: Nuclear Blast and Nuclear Winter (ONE of ONE)

By MariaAugust 15, 2017Newest Catalog Items

Nuclear war will kill the attacker as well as the attacked
Dr. Ira Helfand explains what happens when a nuclear weapon hits the center of an American City. Professor Alan Robock is the leading expert on Nuclear Winter. He says that the firestorm of the burning city raises a cloud of dust into the Stratosphere where it circles and eventually covers the globe for up to a decade. Even a limited nuclear war using less than 1% of the existing weapons will bring darkness and famine to the Northern Hemisphere.
A US president threatening casually “fire, fury and .. power the likes of which this world has never seen before” displays ignorance of nuclear physics as well as Republican politics.
When Ronald [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

The Beginning of the Nuclear Age (TWO of TWO)

By MariaAugust 8, 2017Newest Catalog Items

The First Nuclear Chain Reaction – Enrico Fermi and Henry Moore – ARCHIVE
The Italian physicist Enrico Fermi set off the first nuclear chain reaction in an underground tennis-court at the University of Chicago in 1942. His experiment led directly to the building of the plutonium bomb that destroyed the city of Nagasaki.
Exactly 25 years after that experiment, with Fermi already dead of radiation induced leukemia, a statue by Henry Moore was unveiled on December 2, 1967, at that location, to commemorate the first self sustained nuclear chain reaction.
Boal describes the fascinating clash of ideas, from the early anti nuclear resistance by SDS students in the US and the British CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), to the visual impression of Moore’s [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

The Beginning of the Nuclear Age (ONE of TWO)

By MariaAugust 1, 2017Amazing Speakers & Events, Newest Catalog Items, Nuclear Weapons, Philosophy

The First Nuclear Chain Reaction – Enrico Fermi and Henry Moore – ARCHIVE
The Italian physicist Enrico Fermi set off the first nuclear chain reaction in an underground tennis-court at the University of Chicago in December 1942. His experiment led directly to the building of the plutonium bomb that destroyed the city of Nagasaki.
There are competing claims as to the beginning of the nuclear age. Was it the day of Trinity, was it Hiroshima, or was it Fermi with his willingness to risk a nuclear explosion in the middle of a crowded city.
But more important than the date is the need to comprehend the fundamental change that the beginning of the nuclear age has brought about. Albert Einstein said that the [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:58 — 19.9MB)

In Memory of Bertolt Brecht (ONE of ONE)

By MariaJuly 25, 2017Amazing Speakers & Events, Newest Catalog Items, The Arts

Rebroadcast of the 2013 program
Even though the German playwright, poet, director and theoretician of the stage was persecuted by the Nazi’s, and then forced to leave his exile home in the US when he was accused of being a communist, he did become a major influence on visual and performance artists such as Jean Luc Godard, Robert Wilson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Augusto Boal, Pina Bausch, Dario Fo and many others.
His most famous plays, the Threepenny Opera and the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny were just two of over sixty plays. During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the “Literature in Exile”. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Naomi Oreskes: The Scientist as Sentinel (TWO of TWO)

By MariaJuly 18, 2017Newest Catalog Items

When scientists speak up on climate change
This is the conclusion of Prof. Naomi Oreskes talk about the relationship between science and politics in the age of climate change denial. Most scientists today express a great deal of reluctance to take on any role beyond simply presenting factual information. And those who do, often speak up only after having been attacked.
Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. As historian Oreskes showed that in the past scientists did not lose their standing after going public – and she used nuclear scientists who spoke out in favor of disarmament as example. And she said there is a need to speak up [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Naomi Oreskes: The Scientist as Sentinel (ONE of TWO)

By MariaJuly 11, 2017Newest Catalog Items

When scientists speak up on climate change
Prof. Naomi Oreskes says that scientists are often reluctant to speak in public on contested issues, for fear that this will “politicize” their science and have a negative impact on their credibility. Herself an outspoken scientist on climate change she explored historical examples of scientists who have spoken up on issues of broad importance, including nuclear weaponry, ozone depletion and climate change. In this talk she addresses issues of professional risk versus a population’s need and right to know. Is there such a thing as an obligation to speak on issues that might not be understood or even recognized; and what may be the limits of what a scientist can accomplish.
Naomi Oreskes is Professor [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Dr. Aaron Thierry: The Brutal Logic of Climate Change (TWO of TWO)

By MariaJuly 4, 2017Newest Catalog Items

In this part TWO of his talk Thierry presents a long list of actions that can be taken to keep the planet livable. He focuses on the so-called carbon budget. Since there is a clear understanding that rise in temperature and in emissions are directly related we can now define how much CO2 we may emit before we hit the danger point. If we do not stop fossil fuel burning we will warm the planet to up to 7 1/2 degrees by 2100 – which will be the end of life.
According to the brutal logic of climate change humans on this planet may only extract, process and use a small amount of the remaining coal oil and gas deposits in [ . . . ]

Podcast (file2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Dr. Aaron Thierry: The Brutal Logic of Climate Change (ONE of TWO)

By MariaJune 27, 2017Environment and Climate Change, Newest Catalog Items

Dr. Aaron Thierry says that “recent events in the US illustrate just how widespread and influential climate denial has become; … with potentially catastrophic implications for all of us.” Aaron Thierry asks what we can do to better promote scientific understanding of this crucial issue. And this talk is his contribution.
The title card of Thierry’s presentation is a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.: “There is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action”.
Aaron Thierry received his PhD in Ecology from the University of Sheffield and researched the impacts of global warming on the carbon cycle in Arctic ecosystems. He teaches at Sheffield’s Department [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Jeremy Corbyn – Resurgence of Democratic Socialism

By MariaJune 20, 2017Newest Catalog Items

This program explores the extraordinary gains in votes for the British Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, and the equally extraordinary and unexpected losses of the pro Brexit conservative party under Theresa May on June 8, 2017.
With brief clips from the BBC, Counterspin, and Naomi Klein on Democracy Now and a re-broadcast of a labor breakfast speech by Corbyn from a 2003 TUC Radio program, the following issues are raised:
What are the parallels between Bernie Sanders and Corbyn and the future of democratic socialism. How can a grassroots movement with youth involvement bring huge crowds and even electoral votes to candidates who were thought to be unelectable, often maligned or silenced in the media. What are the principles that ignite [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Michael Parenti: Capitalism’s Apocalypse (ONE of ONE)

By MariaJune 13, 2017Michael Parenti Films on DVD, Newest Catalog Items

Why the rich can’t save anybody – not even themselves
Parenti predicted the financial crisis and said that giant corporate capitalism – by it’s very nature – is an apocalyptic system. When unregulated the built in elements of ever increased growth may well bring the whole system down. And he described the growing national debt not as a tragic mistake but as a means to shift ever more money from the tax payers to the financial institutions in the form of interest payments. This speech is an analysis of the many structural flaws of a capitalist system that puts it on a permanent collision course with democracy.
Recorded on August 23, 2008 at the closing reception for Maria Gilardin’s art show. [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:02 — 19.9MB)

Naomi Klein: No Is Not Enough (TWO of TWO)

By MariaJune 6, 2017Newest Catalog Items

Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need
This is the conclusion of a one hour speech by Naomi Klein about her June 2017 book, No Is Not Enough. It was specifically written as response to what she describes as Donald Trump’s corporate political takeover.
In spite of her scathing criticism Naomi Klein writes with an empowering optimism: She says that “Trump is making the need for systemic change seem much more obvious and appealing. “The No to Trump, she says, may be what brings people into the streets, but the Yes keeps us together into the future.
Her new book, No Is Not Enough, shows how to define that YES and what she calls the resurgence of the utopian imagination. [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Naomi Klein: No Is Not Enough (ONE of TWO)

By MariaMay 30, 2017Newest Catalog Items

Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need
Naomi Klein says that a corporate political takeover got Donald Trump elected and now “An unprecedented number of people are becoming engaged in movements and politics.” She writes that the current rise in activism can resist his policies. However saying No is not enough. In this talk she explains that we have the opportunity to “build a different economy and a different relationship between humans and the natural world and between each other in community.” And she explains how we can arrive at relationships of reciprocity, regeneration and renewal.
Naomi Klein is internationally famous for having written several major analytical books, among them: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate (in 2014), [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Stephen Zarlenga The American Monetary Act (Part TWO of TWO)

By MariaMay 23, 2017Newest Catalog Items

Includes excerpts of a 2016 speech by Dennis Kucinich
This is Part TWO of a celebration of the work of an extraordinary man, Stephen Zarlenga, author of the book The Lost Science of Money and founder of the American Monetary Institute. Stephen Zarlenga died on April 25, 2017.
I interviewed Zarlenga in May 2009 when the consequences of the financial crisis of 2007/08 had become obvious and his reform ideas were in demand.
Working with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Zarlenga helped develop legislative language for a major reform of the Federal Reserve system.
In 2011 Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers introduced HR 2990, the N.E.E.D. Act, that stands for National Emergency Employment Defense.
The organization that Zarlenga built, the American Monetary Institute continues and the annual [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:58 — 19.9MB)

Stephen Zarlenga: The American Monetary Act (ONE of TWO)

By MariaMay 16, 2017Newest Catalog Items

ARCHIVAL Solving the Financial Crisis by Monetary Reform
This program was first produced in May 2009 – then and now it is a celebration of the work of an extraordinary man, Stephen Zarlenga, author of the book The Lost Science of Money and founder of the American Monetary Institute. Stephen Zarlenga died on April 25, 2017.
In 2009 the consequences of the financial crisis of 2007/08 with mortgage fraud and predatory lending had become obvious, both in the misery they caused to ordinary people and in the scale of the financial bailout that the banks and the bankers received.
Many called for better regulation – but a few visionaries asked for fundamental change of the monetary system. Zarlenga was a leading voice among [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)